


Birds of a Feather

by orphan_account



Series: Arrowverse Series [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Acrobatic Fighting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awful Puns, Bat-Gadgets, Bows and Arrows, Cryptographic Sequencers, Dick Grayson bangs all the ladies, Dick Grayson is Robin, Escrima Sticks, F/M, Gen, He's a badass, Mentions of DCU Characters, Robin's Bike, Season 3 Optimism, Slight OOC, thugs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-01-27 02:46:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1712111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mysterious vigilante saves Laurel and the two team up to save Team Arrow from the Riddler.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Robin

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! This will be a gap filler between season 2 and 3, so I'll try to make it seem relatively canonized, but I'm not sure where season 3 will start up at. Robin has a good chance to become the infamous Nightwing sometime in the series future, so stay tuned for that. 
> 
> For now, the Bat Family is Batman, Alfred, Robin, and MAYBE Barbara Gordon. MAYBE. Remember that this is all "Arrowverse" so costume descriptions will be tweaked and things in general will be different from regular continuity. Most of my "visions" will be Arkhamverse based (suits, gadgets, etc.), so it will help to be familiar with that universe. 
> 
> Questions will be answered, so don't worry, I have a grand plan (kinda).

Sweat beaded on her brow as she inched back into the darkest of alleyways. She never should have ignored Ollie's instructions. No, they were commands. She shouldn't have disobeyed Oliver's commands. Disobeying got him, Roy, and Diggle taken by Riddler, with her getting shot in the process. Now here she was, limping into the darkest of dark alleyways, hoping that the Riddler's goons will overlook just this one in their relentless search for her. 

Unfortunately they did not and within the minute they were storming down the alleyway. She did her best to hide behind a dumpster, but was still able to be seen if they got close enough. As Laurel looked up, she spotted a fire escape. “If I could just reach that spot without being detected,” Laurel thought.

Before she got the chance to make a run for it, a masked figure swooped in from above and kicked the leading henchman. He then vaulted back to Laurel's position and said, “Hope you don't mind, gorgeous, but you looked like you could use a hand.” Two silver shurikens were then dispatched from somewhere behind him and hastily thrown at Riddler's goons.

The way he moved was almost inhumanely fast. His kicks and flips were almost a blink-and-you-miss-em deal, plus his punches averaged about four to six jabs a second. He then discharged two medium length sticks and stuck them together, forming a bo-staff. His initial move was a swipe to the closest henchman's knee, followed by a double roundhouse that sent him flying into one of his friends. The caped hero sprinted up the brick wall and back flipped over the remaining henchmen. Laurel would have sworn that he winked at her mid-flip. 

He used his hooded cape for stunning and parrying, Laurel noted, often leaving them dazed and confused, along with a vast combination of fighting techniques and styles; even more than she's seen Oliver do. This man is obviously well trained — proved by various timed attacks and flips of acrobatic nature. 

A smoke pellet burst, exuding panic from Riddler's remaining thugs. 

“You guys are REALLY dumb,” a voice rang out. A momentary pause saturated the alleyway. “I mean... REALLY. DUMB.”

Laurel would have laughed if not for the dire circumstances and intensely painful bullet wound; the latter needing to see medical attention immediately in order to prevent infection or further damage. She took quick peek around the corner of a dumpster just in time to catch a view of a henchman's silhouette as it was sent flying backwards into a thick brick wall.

“Sometimes I don't even think Riddler wants to win...” that same voice began as he aggressively beat two thugs simultaneously. “...I mean, why pick such incompetent idiots to do your dirty work?” A quick swipe with his right stick knocked one of them out cold. “You have to know that they'll always lose in the end,” he finished as he grabbed an arm and broke it, finishing off the last of the criminals. 

He bent down and started closely inspecting the goons' weaponry with now glowing red lenses. At this time, as Laurel staggered out of the shadows, she took him in for the first time. He wasn't a big hulky man, like she assumed, but rather a boy. Maybe 16 or 17 years old. His suit hugged his muscly frame tightly, aside from the sleek, charcoal armor on his forearms and shins. A small part of his biceps were exposed, leaving a gap between his under-armors. It, as a whole, looked like it was made of a unique type of kevlar. He wore a skin-tight protective suit underneath that was black and padded. He also wore a small, silver belt that had several pods -- presumably for gadgets. His hair was shaggy and wavy, every piece a little out of place, but it still looked good. Good like that's how it was meant to be. When he turned around and faced Laurel for the first time, she took in what features of his she could. His jaw was sharp and handsome, along with a widely set mouth. No doubt that he was young, but why would such a young person be fighting crime? And so expertly, at that. Chest armor spread half-way underneath his hooded, short black and yellow cape, which draped over his shoulders and fell down to his mid thigh. There were two buckles on his abdomen and one on his chest, presumably for ease of access when he took all of it off. To top off his suit was probably the most important feature—a carefully stitched 'R' on his upper left chest region. It probably stood for something, but Laurel didn't get a chance to ask.

“What do you know about Riddler?” he asked. An argument could be made that it was an impatient tone. 

“He has The Arr-”

“Yes, I'm aware he's taken Oliver Queen, John Diggle, and Roy Harper,” he interrupts. “I need to know what other information you have.”

“Came into town a few days ago,” she says, a little frazzled due to his thorough knowledge of their identities, “has a fascination with riddles...”she continued as the masked hero began typing into his gauntlet. “...You'd have to ask-”

“Miss Smoak? I need all the information you have on Riddler,” he interrupts again, but now he's suddenly talking to Felicity. 

“Who are you?” Felicity asks. “And how did you tap into this line? I rigged it myself, it's as secure as-”

“Felicity, you're going to have to listen to me if you want to find your friends before it's too late, OK? I'm sending you all previously known locations and associates of The Riddler. Tell me when you have them.”

A pregnant pause stretches for a few seconds.

“Got them-”

“-Cross reference that data with Starling City Police reports of suspicious activities and possible sightings of a man—6'1”, 183 lbs., blue eyes, reddish-brown hair, possible erratic behavior, likely wearing an ugly green suit, probable green goggles. Got it?” he commanded. 

“Okay,” Felicity said quickly as the sound of keyboard clicks began to flood his earpiece.

“How do you know all of this?” Laurel asks.

“I can answer questions later after Riddler is back in Arkham, but for now, I need to see your leg... wound. I need to see your leg wound,” he answers as he walks over to her.

Laurel stands back apprehensively at first, but when he gives her a 'seriously' look and she gives in. 

“Hopefully you have more of these,” he says as he tears into her leather pants; just above her bullet wound. 

He flicks out a small pair of surgical tweezers from his belt and moves to extract the bullet fragments. Before doing so, he switches something on his mask—causing formerly clear lenses to glow red again. 

“There's only two fragments, luckily. Minor tears. No bone damage. You got lucky, gorgeous,” he begins as he softly extricates tiny metal fragments from her leg. “I can help you get lucky again, if you'd like,” he says wryly. 

“Are you trying to seduce me while in the process of performing minor surgery?” she asks playfully and somewhat tauntingly. “How old are you? 16?”

“I'm old enough to make you never forget me,” he quips. 

“Is that so?” she muses before wincing as the last bit of lead is pulled from her leg.

“It is,” he replies. “Felicity,” he begins as he stands back up, “What's your status? Any luck on locating Riddler?” 

“No. Well, yes. I've narrowed it down to an abandoned Wayne Enterprises chemical subsidiary on the edge of town, New Hope Church off 52nd street, and an abandoned steel mill. Sionis, I think. Do any of those locations mean anything to you, uhm...”

“Robin,” he finishes for her. “And yes. One of them in particular,” Robin states as he walks to the front of the alleyway, typing into his gauntlet once again. “I'm headed there now. You're going to need to pick up Canary; my ride doesn't have the capacity.”

“Uh, OK,” Felicity chimes back shortly before the line goes dead.

He stands at the end of they alley and checks his right side before turning back around. “Contact me when you're back at Arrow HQ. I'll bring Oliver and the others back safely.” A brief head nod is the last piece of communication she receives from Robin, because less than a second later he's flipping backwards onto what looks like a modified dirtbike that happens to be speeding through. A flash of red—he's gone.


	2. Traps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin frees The Arrow and co., but a much larger threat looms.

The street was mostly quiet. That is, until Robin came screeching through on his motorcycle, of course. The sound of the engine whizzing through resembles a loud whistle, or a high pitched, albeit intimidating, screeching that can be heard from several blocks away. 

Robin rode through the streets and shortcuts at top speed, blurring in and out of traffic. Surely, all that any civilian could see was a red streak. 

“Robin?” Felicity's voice crackled in.

“Yeah, what's up?” he replied as sped up the back of a parked car transportation truck, rocketed into the air, and bypassed three cars in the oncoming lane.

“I'm using the Queen Consolidated satellite to track you. Where are you going?”

“The, uh, Wayne...? Enterprises plant. You said Wayne, right? Like that rich guy Bruce Wayne? Edward Nigma, AKA The Riddler, used to work at Wayne Enterprises,” Robin replied, dodging a formerly unseen semi-truck. 

“Unhappy exit scenes?” Felicity asked.

“You could say that,” Robin replies. “He vowed to destroy Wayne Enterprises with every ounce of breath he had, and—knowing Riddler—he would love the irony of taking them down while holed up in one of their abandoned chemical plants. It's something he couldn't possibly pass up.”

“You sound like you've dealt with him before.”

“I have,” he stated as he continued speeding through the city.

“Wait did you say Robin? As in Bat-”

“Yes,” He cut her off.

“I thought you guys were a myth. Wow,” she pauses, “It's, um, nice to meet you, I guess,”

“You guess?”

“It is nice to meet you,” she says. “But why are you here in Starling? I thought the Dynamic Duo worked out of Gotham.”

“'Licity, I've got time to explain this, but later, not when I'm about to take on Riddler and his thugs. Robin out,” he says before he cuts the line dead and speeds up a safe distance from Riddler's hideout.

His radar shows sixteen armed guards outside the plant. Six circling the perimeter and ten on the roof. Riddler must have assumed he would take the theatrical roof entrance, because those guards seemed to be more focused. More trained. More experienced than the others. Fortunately, as he was taught, Robin came prepared. A sonic shuriken will deactivate the guards' heartbeat monitors, which will allow him to remain undetected as he attacks. The door is secured with a custom lock designed by Riddler. Still, it shouldn't be too hard for Robin to hack. 

Robin sneaked up the perimeter as carefully as he could. Once he reached the wall, he started grappling small distances—to keep the stealth factor intact. Once he reached the top of the tall building, he quickly leaped onto the roof slipped behind an air duct.

Two guards were closing in on him from opposite directions, so if he was going to make his moves, he was going to have to do it now. Relying purely on instinct, Robin back flipped over the air duct and quickly jammed a sonic shuriken into the ground, sending high frequency pulses across the rooftop and causing the heartbeat monitors and comms to malfunction. Now the fun starts.

Robin activated his detective vision and went to work. One thug approaching from behind, spin kick into two more. Three birds with one stone, anyone? 

Two more goons then raised their guns, to which Robin instinctively jammed with two shurikens lodged in the barrels. They charged at him, but were quickly subdued with a variety of kicks and punches.

The sixth henchman charged from the front, earning him a broken arm and a stick to the face, followed by the seventh, who got broken kneecaps and a sore ego. Robin connected his sticks to form a bostaff before proceeding to knock out more of Riddler's thugs—two of which suddenly had riot shields. Like Batman taught, Robin vaulted into the air and used a simplistic aerial attack to subdue them.

The last henchman's attack was timid and fearful. He took a step forward but immediately jumped back when Robin flinched at him. 

“Behind you!” Robin yelled.

The last of Riddler's thugs whipped his head around in impulsive terror before having Robin's boot kicking him into a brick wall. 

Robin walked over to the roof access door and began working on hacking in. 

“Robin,” Felicity's voice crackled in again shortly after.

“Hey, beautiful,” he replied as he bypassed firewall #9.

“That was impressive,” she said.

“It's my job, but thanks.”

“How, um, long have you been doing this?”

“A long time,” he said as he broke through firewall #52.

“How old were you?”

Robin smiled and continued typing away into his gauntlet. “Young.”

“Why so cryptic?”

“Why so questiony?”

She paused. “Just curious, I guess. So you and Bat-”

“-I'm in. Talk later, K?” he said before disabling the link again. 

He slid down the ladder and began scanning for Oliver and co. The building had two floors, he was on floor two, and they were on floor one—the main factory. Of course. No one was in the offices upstairs, meaning that this was likely a trap. A trap set for him and the Bat. The Bat who was busy elsewhere. Great.

If it's a trap, why bother hiding, right? Right, RJ. Still, grabbing their weapons from wherever Riddler has hidden them and then making a dramatic entrance would be a better idea. No, that's suicide. Actually, I have a better plan...

***

“What went down out there?” Felicity asked Laurel.

“You didn't hear?” 

“I did,” she paused, “But I thought you might wanna... talk.”

Laurel crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “When we went to the docks... It wasn't supposed to be—there was so many... Oliver said get out. I tried to EMP the weapon crates. Got shot. Then Riddler showed up and...” she paused and averted her reddened eyes to the roof, “This is stupid. I need to be out there helping that kid. He's going to get himself killed!”

Felicity snorted and spun in her chair. “Doubt it,” she began as she started typing into her computer, “Look at what him and Batman have-”

“-Bat-man?” Laurel interrupted, “As in the great myth of Gotham City?”

“Yessss,” Felicity replied—exasperated, “The Dynamic Duo, the Caped Crusaders, the Bat and the Bird. Ringing any bells?”

“I've heard the stories,” Laurel replied, “Didn't know they were real though. Until now, that is,” she continued as she limped over to Felicity's monitor. “What is he doing here, anyway?”

Felicity pulled up several news reports on a breakout at Arkham Asylum. “Probably rounding up strays,” she began, “My guess is that the Caped Crusaders had to uncharacteristically split up to bring everyone back. Riddler must have got here right after the breakout, because this is only a few days old,” she finished as she continued to scroll down the page.

“This just in—Joker, Bane, and other 'rogues' running rampant in Gotham. Batman on the scene... Riddler, Mad Hatter, Firefly and others have yet to be heard from,” Felicity read before stopping coldly. “Hopefully those 'others' aren't making their way to Starling as well.”

“When have we ever had that kind of luck?” Laurel bitterly joked. “If that boy doesn't get himself killed, we'll need him to stick around-”

“-He won't get himself killed, Laurel. Look at what he's done,” Felicity starts as she pulls up various reports on Batman and Robin's “alleged” feats. 

“Yeah, but Batman isn't here this time.”

“This one says he turned in Harley Quinn, the 'Clown Princess of Crime', single-handedly.”

“Big deal, a crazy chick with a hammer-”

“-Surprising strength and stamina, superior gymnastic skills, high disregard for human life, homocidal behavior...”

“Where did you get that?”

“A doctor's notes from Arkham Asylum I think. Surprisingly cute outfit, honestly. Still, she's a heavy hitter. So is Two-Face, Roman Sionis, and a ton of other mobsters. All of which Robin has taken down by himself. Don't underestimate him! He knows what he's doing,” Felicity finished.

“Geez, crush much, Miss Smoak?” Laurel replied as she sat back on the operating table.

“I'm not! He just—you shouldn't, don't doubt him is all I'm saying. He has more experience than you do. These date back almost eight years,” Felicity spits out nervously, “And I'm not the one who's crushing.”

“What are you talking about?” Laurel replies with mock stupidity.

“C'mon. He's obviously got a thing for you. I heard him flirting,” Felicity taunts while she pulls up the satellite feed of the building again.

“He's like 17 years old!” Laurel loudly states her case, “And, wait, I'm with Oliver!”

“Are you two together this week? Cool.” Felicity continues staring at the screen, hoping to see Robin exit safely with the rest of Team Arrow. “But don't pretend that you wouldn't jump his bones if he was older,” she says to Laurel.

Laurel doesn't reply, but instead just snorts and slumps back in her chair. He is good-looking. 

***

"This, right here, is my, swag  
All, the girls, are on me, damn  
Every, body, pay, attention  
This, right here, is my pretty boy swag  
Girls on my dick when I pretty boy swag  
Girls scream my name when I pretty boy swag  
Watch me, pretty boy swag, pretty boy swag”

“Agh!”

“Where's that coming from?!?”

The Riddler's thugs kept screaming and shouting, but couldn't be heard over the blaring music that flooded the room like a natural disaster. 

Consistent popping noises were heard as smoke filled the floor and rose. Robin swooped down behind where Riddler had tied up Arrow, Arsenal, and John Diggle. 

“You guys ready to fight your way out of here?” he asks as he cuts the thick binding rope. 

“What? Who the f-” Roy begins.

“-Who are you?” Oliver finishes.

Robin finishes cutting them out of their bindings and hands them their respective weapons, aside from Arsenal, who's bow was broken previously. He then activates his detective vision.

“John, you have a broken left ulna. Keep to the back. Let's move,” Robin says in hushed tones as he motions for the three to follow him.

The others mutter a few more questions, but quickly give up when the smoke fades and they have to fight Riddler's onslaught of thugs. Most of them go down quickly, especially with the four highly trained combatants that they're up against. Robin uses his signature kick that he dubbed the 'Flying Grayson' to send a goon into another one that's trailing slightly behind him. He only draws his bostaff a few times, but when he does, his blows are crippling.

Arsenal and Dig use hand to hand combat as expertly as they know, knocking out a grand total of twelve thugs.

The Arrow uses what's left of his trick arrows to stun and daze Riddler's henchmen while the rest physically assault them.

Riddler's taunts grow increasingly sparse until they disappear altogether. 

“Agh,” Arsenal shouts as he takes a blow to the jaw before reversing the attack and successfully subduing the henchman. “Where's that kid?”

“With the—ugh,” Diggle says while he tosses a kick, “Hood? And cape?”

Arsenal then throws a finishing punch to the wide jaw of his attacker, sending him to the ground in a heap of unconsciousness. “That's the one.”

“Skipped out—on your left,” Oliver said, causing Diggle to heed his warning and counter the attacker that was approaching from his left. “—about half a minute ago,” 

“Well where did he go?” Roy grunted shortly before he sent his knee into a henchman's jaw.

***

Robin whipped his head around just in time to see Riddler escape into the stairway. He wasted no time in rushing over to the door, only to find it locked.

“Of course,” he said and took a few steps back—away from the door. Robin gracefully smashed through the window and began his descent to the pavement. He then quickly whipped out his grappling gun and fired it to the roof of the Wayne Chemicals building.

His velocity launched him into the airspace past the point where he had grappled to, so he used his cape to glide back to the roof.

Riddler had just exited the stairwell by the time Robin lands back on the roof.

“It's over, Nygma. You've lost. It's time to head back to Arkham,” Robin says as he draws cuffs from his belt.

“Not so fast, Birdboy,” Robin hears a grumble from above, followed by the recognition of approaching helicopter wings.

He looks up to see Firefly above him, with a chopper trailing a ways back.

“I've always known that strength comes in numbers, Robin, I just figured it was time that I used this very tiny portion of my knowledge so that I could take down the Batman,” Riddler begins as he walks past Robin, “This was no trap for the bat. This was a trap for you. To kill the Bat we must cripple his soul.” 

The chopper arrives with two leading figures peering out the side. Killer Moth, who immediately jumps out and uses his flightsuit, and Red Hood, who immediately opens fire on Robin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RED HOOD?? WHAT?? ISN'T HE CREATED AFTER DICK GRAYSON BECOMES NIGHTWING??? 
> 
> Yes. He is. In the DCU. Not in the Arrowverse. His backstory will be explained with detail in a later chapter. Trust me, I think it will be pretty cool how it all works out. 
> 
> More chapters to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter, more are on the way. 
> 
> Whhhhatt?? Dick Grayson doesn't wear hoods! They'll mess up his hair! I'll try to post a drawing of Robin's suit, but it's basically just the Arkham City one with a few 'Dick Grayson' style modifications. There will also be an explanation of why he HAS to wear it. HINT: Batman is the boss.
> 
> See ya!  
> -Captain


End file.
